A little while back, Star Trek: The Next Generation actor and director Jonathan Frakes revealed that director Bryan Singer (X-Men) once had a pitch for a Star Trek television show that never came to fruition. Singer is a well-known Trek fan, and thanks to some string-pulling by X-Men and Star Trek star Patrick Stewart, has even appeared in an uncredited role on Star Trek: Nemesis.

Recently, more details have come to light about Singer’s failed Star Trek proposal. Read on after the jump to fantasize about what could’ve been.

A sequel to Free Enterprise is finally happening, and over the past couple week’s we’ve been hearing rumblings on the casting front. If you haven’t yet watched Robert Meyer Burnett‘s 1998 indie film, it can be easily described as Swingers for sci-fi geeks. It was about two aspiring LA filmmakers/Trek geeks who meet their screen idol, William Shatner (played by himself), who turns out to be nothing like the person they had imagined. The film has gone on to become something of a cult classic among geeks, and I highly recommend you check it out.

Last week we reported that William Shatner has confirmed that he would be returning for the sequel, with plans to begin shooting later in July. Isaiah Mustafa, the guy who appears in the Old Spice commercials, revealed that he also has a role in the upcoming project while appearing on G4. And last week we noticed some tweets from actresses Eliza Dushku and Alicia Witt talking about a twelve year old movie only a few people have seen. Could they also be involved in the upcoming sequel?

I’ve been hearing about a possible sequel to Free Enterprise for over ten years now. I really thought it was a pipe dream that would never happen. But apparently the sequel is actually happening, likely thanks to the recent jump in Trek popularity thanks to the JJ Abrams‘ Star Trek-reboot. If you haven’t yet watched Robert Meyer Burnett‘s 1998 indie film, it can be easily described as Swingers for sci-fi geeks. It was about two aspiring LA filmmakers/Trek geeks who meet their screen idol, William Shatner (played by himself), who turns out to be nothing like the person they had imagined. The film has gone on to become something of a cult classic among geeks, and I highly recommend you check it out.

Burnett has been trying to get a sequel greenlit for years now, and it is now falling into place.

Last week Bryan Singer signed on with United Artists to direct a World War II Dramatic Thriller, prompting many people to speculate that the Superman Returns sequel would be delayed. Variety reported it, we reported it. Well apparently that isn’t true.

“Filming will probably begin March, 2008, as was always planned from the beginning. The WWII film Bryan plans to shoot over the summer will have NO EFFECT whatsoever on the Superman sequel schedule,” explains Robert Meyer Burnett, who was behind all the behind-the-scenes material for Superman Returns (but is probably better known as the director of the geek classic, Free Enterprise).

So there you have it, direct from a guy who is already shooting the preproduction stages. Although its still hard to believe that Bryan’s new project will be shot and edited by March. And even if it is, doesn’t Bryan need time to focus on the preproduction planning?